Food waste: Numbers, tech, teaching resources, upcycling and more! | Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior (SNEB)

Posted by: on Monday November 4, 2019 food on plate

According to a UN report, if global food waste were a country it would have the 3rd highest climate footprint behind China and the U.S. In the U.S. 40% of the food is wasted @ https://supermarketguru.com/the-lempert-report/the-un-climate-report-tells-what-foods-we-need/. Take a look at food waste by food type @ https://blogs.extension.iastate.edu/spendsmart/2016/07/18/lets-talk-about-food-waste/. What ages are most concerned about food waste? (55+ and under 30) @ https://www.supermarketguru.com/the-lempert-report/which-generation-is-most-concerned-about-food-waste/. Yet 18 to 24 year olds waste food the most @ https://www.supermarketguru.com/the-lempert-report/the-group-of-consumers-who-waste-the-most-food-may-surprise-you/. The top 10 countries for sustainable food (France is at the top) @ https://www.supermarketguru.com/the-lempert-report/the-worlds-top-10-countries-for-sustainable-food/ finds US not in the top 10 – we’re 26 – ranking takes into account food waste, sustainable ag and nutrition issues. Which state leads with regard to food waste? California! @ https://www.supermarketguru.com/the-lempert-report/california-is-known-for-a-lot-of-things/. Finally, get an overview of food waste, an EPA/USDA effort to reduce food waste by 50% by 2030 and more @ https://foodandnutrition.org/from-the-magazine/waste-deep-the-state-of-food-loss-and-waste-and-ways-to-fix-it/

Infographics/podcast

**Thanksgiving food waste @ http://blog.spoileralert.com/thanksgiving-food-waste and **Food waste by food type @ https://choosemyplate-prod.azureedge.net/sites/default/files/printablematerials/2015-LetsTalkTrash-1page.pdf

**What Doesn’t Kill You (Heritage Radio Network) ~ 6 minutes into this 41 minute episode is an interview with the filmmaker of the 2017 documentary: Wasted! The Story of Food Waste @ https://heritageradionetwork.org/podcast/wasted-the-story-of-food-waste-with-lydia-tenaglia/ which looks at food waste through the eyes of chefs.

Food waste and tech

**Hy-Vee is the first U.S. supermarket to test a food waste app called Flashfood in selected WI stores @ https://www.supermarketnews.com/sustainability/hy-vee-tests-grocery-shopping-app-reduce-food-waste. The app searches to get reduced prices on foods close to their expiration dates. Items are purchased on the app and picked up in the store. Target may also begin a pilot of the app.

**USDA’s FoodKeeper app for food storage @ https://www.foodsafety.gov/keep-food-safe/foodkeeper-app reviewed by RDN @ https://foodandnutrition.org/july-august-2016/foodkeeper-version-3-0-0/

**Save the Food (online tools including how much a family can save yearly when avoiding food waste) @ https://savethefood.com/

**A new app – FoodFight! – targets restaurant food waste (in selected cities, restaurants get leftover food picked up) @ https://www.supermarketguru.com/the-lempert-report/a-new-app-targets-food-waste

**16 consumer, grower and business apps to address food waste in the U.S. and abroad @ https://www.greenbiz.com/article/16-apps-helping-companies-and-consumers-prevent-food-waste

Teaching about food waste

Food waste curriculum and resources @ https://ag.purdue.edu/extension/nature/Pages/Food-Waste-Lesson-Plans.aspx; Food waste warrior toolkit @ https://www.worldwildlife.org/teaching-resources/toolkits/food-waste-warrior-toolkit; Food waste activities @ https://www.actionforhealthykids.org/activity/food-waste/; Reducing food waste (15 page PDF of activities for youth and adults) @ https://www.hennepin.us/-/media/hennepinus/business/work-with-hennepin-county/environmental-education/reducing-food-waste.pdf?la=en; How to prevent food waste: 27 tips for community leaders @ https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/ex/sustainablecitiescollective/how-prevent-food-waste-27-tips-community-leaders/1169808/; Wasted! Food! @ https://impact.extension.org/2016/03/i-three-issue-corps-wasted-food/; The Waste-free kitchen handbook (A guide to eating well and saving money by wasting less food, 2015) – Dana Gunders: shopping, storage, using food scraps, recipes and more

Interesting new ‘takes’ on food waste…consumers, schools

**How to use the liquid from canned foods @ https://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run/articles/2018-09-07/stop-draining-the-liquid-from-canned-foods-and-use-it-like-this-instead

include using the ‘liquid’ from canned pumpkin purée, fruit, beans and veggies in soups, salad dressings, oats, smoothies and more. Schools getting into reducing food waste…Georgia schools look at food waste @ https://www.ajc.com/news/local-education/gwinnett-schools-look-reduce-food-waste/PT2TN4gTQLcuAKAcS4e11I/; using a milk machine instead of individual cartons @ https://www.whsv.com/content/news/Elementary-school-ditches-milk-cartons-uses-milk-machine-506657311.html and an Indiana school sends leftover food home for kids in need @ https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/03/us/wasted-food-rescued-trnd/index.html

https://www.theepochtimes.com/indiana-school-turns-unused-food-into-take-home-weekend-meals-for-needy-students_2873637.html. One new approach is longer-lasting produce to reduce food waste @ https://storebrands.com/kroger-bringing-super-produce-more-stores.

Upcycling

Upcycling takes a discarded product and turns it into something of value. Some businesses doing just that…turning salmon skin into high-protein chips @ https://www.forbes.com/sites/douglasyu/2019/01/08/meet-the-former-celebrity-chef-who-is-turning-wasted-salmon-skin-into-high-protein-chips/#2e3e96cd6d8b; using watermelon water from the melons left in the field to rot because they didn’t look good. Read about companies using ‘wasted’ food as ingredients @ https://www.fastcompany.com/90337075/inside-the-booming-business-of-fighting-food-waste (there are now at least 70 companies/nonprofits doing this).